Jamaica Customs, where did the jerseys go?

I was in Jamaica in late January. I am a big football fan. I was able to watch a ­corner-league football match in one of the volatile ­communities of Montego Bay, St James.

One of the teams didn’t have football jerseys to play in, so after the game, I went to the players and asked about the situation with the team jersey. They all said they didn’t have the money to purchase such and that they tried to get a sponsor but were unsuccessful in doing so.

I told them that I would purchase and ship them the jerseys via FedEx because that was the quickest way to get them to them and I didn’t know of anybody going to Jamaica in the near future.

I purchased the jerseys, and I shipped them via FedEx on February 20. I was told by FedEx that the customs fee would be US 95 cents per item (there were 15 jerseys).

The jerseys arrived in Montego Bay, and the ­recipient went to pick them up. He was told he had to pay J$35,000. He told the customs officer that he didn’t have that type of money and explained to her what the jerseys were for.

The recipient went to the customs manager on duty and was told to come back at a later date and that he would be able to get the jerseys when they auctioned them off at a cheaper price.

Upon hearing all that went on, I immediately made a request to FedEx to have the package returned to me.

After a week of back-and-forth with FedEx to get the package returned, I was told by them that they could no longer track the package. Jamaica Customs would not return the package.

Here was a community trying to do ­something to get the youths together. I’m ­trying to help by supplying the team with jerseys. What will that young man do when he decides not to play because there are no jerseys?

Jamaica Customs on a whole has to do ­better. Better training is needed.